Heilman-type cotton-comber.



G. M. WHITIN. HEILMAN TYPE COTTON COMBER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1913. RENEWED AUG. 8, 1914.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

G. M. WHITIN.

HEILMAN TYPE COTTON OOMBER.

, APPLIQATION FILED JUNE18,1913. RENEWED AUG. 8, 1914. 1,131 .976.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVE/VTUI? m M 0 n A G. M. WHITIN.

HEILMAN'TYPE COTTON COMBER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNElB, 191s. RENEWED AUG. 8, 1914. 1,1 31,976.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

v I I r wmvsss QJV %I, INVENTOR THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHC'TC LITHCL. WASHINGWAL'D. C.

G. M. WHITIN.

HEILMAN TYPE COTTON BOMBER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1a, 1913. RENEWED AUG. 8, 1914.

1,131,976. Patented Mar.16,1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' mm 8 M 0 ?a y 7 v I W mama s THE NORRIS .PFTFQS CO PNOTO-LLTHO.. WASHJNCTON. D. C.

the claims.

rinuTiEp STATES PATENT orrroit.

GEORGE M. WHITIN, 0F WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WIIITIN MACHINE WORKS, 0F -WIIITI1\TSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS- SAGHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Application filed June 18, 1913, Serial No. 774,285. Renewed August 8, 1914. Serial No. 855,908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. WHI'IIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Whitinsville, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented the following described Improvements in Hellman-Type Cotton-Combers.

The improvement relates more particularly to a construction of close nip cotton comber adapted for operation with efiiciency and high speed, and consists in certain features of the drawing-off mechanism and associated parts, as hereinafter made apparent and more particularly pointed out in In the drawings forming part hereof, Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of one of the combing heads of a machine constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a similar section taken on a plane close to the bearings of the several rolls. Fig. 3 is a top plan of parts of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. d is an elevation thereof; Fig. 5 a detail; and Fig. 6 a modified form.

In Fig. 1 the reference numeral 1 marks the upper portion of one of the intermediate frame uprights which separate the several combing heads of the comber, forming the supports for the various operating parts thereof. It will be understood without illustration that the comber may comprise a number of combing heads all alike and driven from a drivehead at one end of the machine, according to the usual Heilman design. The drivehead is not herein shown inasmuch as the comber builder will readily supply the necessary mechanism for providing the motions assigned to the various parts referred to below. The uncombed lap is fed to the action of the combing elements over a lap-plate 2, the lower end only of which appears in Fig. 1. From the end of this lap-plate the lap is drawn into the bite of a pair of feeding members or rolls 3 into the jaws of the nipper mechanism. The lower feed roll 3 is desirably a shaft roll, that is to say, it is formed on, or as a part of, a continuous shaft, common to all of the combing heads and driven from the drivehead. It is journaled in adjustable bearings 5 on the uprights 1, in a position which will permit it to rotate as closely as possible to the nipper jaws. The upper roll 4, which is individual to each head, is

in diameter and cylindrical,

and l, by which it is projected 7 held in place on the lower roll by means of a pair of holder arms 6. These arms are pivoted in rear of the fed rolls and put under the tension of springs, not shown but as customary for the fed roll holders of Heilman machines. In the present case, however, the arms serve merely to locate the upper feed roll, imparting their pressure thereto only through the intervention of a presser roll i which is superposed on the feed roll with its end gudgeons journaled in, in fact carried by, the ends of the arms. The arms thus exert their pressure on the presser roll and the latter transmits such pressure to the upper feed roll, for which purpose the presser roll is formed of full diameter only for a portion of its length and at the central region, whereby it bears on the central part of the roll 4:, but presses the full length of the latter roll firmly and with a uniform pressure upon the lower feed roll, so that the two feed rolls will grip the cotton lap evenly from margin to margin. The part of the presser roll that bears on the upper feed roll is desirably fluted to fit such roll, while its end portions are reduced as plainly shown in Fig. 8. By this construction and arrangement the upper feed roll may be made very slender with respect to the width of lap it serves, and may be so placed on the lower roll, without interference with the nipper knife, as to cause the common tangent of the two rolls to extend downwardly toward the path of the detaching segment approximating coincidence with the point of contact which the latter has upon the under side of the detaching roll, as indicated by the dot-and-dash line in Fig. 1.

At the same time the feed rolls are located at a suflicient height relatively to the comb cylinder, to cause the lap to intersect the teeth of a stationary top comb as the tuft is being drawn away.

The nipper mechanism comprises a fixed lower jaw or cushion plate 7, and a movable upper jaw or nipper knife 8, the latter being carried on arms 9 and provided with the usual lip by which it deflects the projecting fringe of lap toward the rear of the cylinder. The nipper knife opens to a position above the tangent line just referred to during the detaching process, the fulcrum axis of the arms 9, being somewhere in the rear of the feed rolls, so that the said knife moves apin front of the ripper knife but spaced fromita distance sufficient to determine the appropriate length of the fringe that is to be held in engagement with the cylinder. It :is preferablyso set as to work are fixed position, about as indicated in the drawings, but it is intended also'to be adjustable, by means not shown, to vary the depth to which its teeth may penetrate the tuft. The comb cylinder 11 comprises a combing half-lap 12, and a detaching half-lap or segment 18, carried on the main comb shaft .l h w-hich latter shaft is common to allof the heads of the comber and j ournaled on each ofthe uprights 1 thereof. The cylinder and top comb, as well as the nipper mechanism and other parts not herein specificallyshownor described, may 'beconstructed, if desired, to operate in the manner shown in Patent No. 82247 9 dated June 5th, 1906.

Immediately in front of the top comb and as close thereto as operating clearance permits, is mounted the detaching roll 15, which is preferably supported in a substan tially fixed position, under [the incline of the top comb and following the principlesexplained in the patent referred to; .that is to say, it is held by its :gudgeons on/fixed bearings which will permit it to engage the detaching segment 13 but escape the needle half-lap, the latter being set about g g of an inch lower on the cylinder than the segment. The detaching roll, however, may be otherwise carried, as willbe apparent from the further explanation of the invention.

Directly in front of the detaching roll there is mounted a pair of piecing rolls 16 and'17, in contact with each other and out of contact with the detaching roll. These rolls are so placed as to take the detached tuft from the segment, turning it upwardly and passing it between themselves and thence forwardly under the clearer roll 18. One or the other, preferably the roll 17, is a shaft roll common to all the combing heads and driven from the drivehead, receiving from the latter the usual intermittent or alternating forward and back motion, which will cause it and the other rollsv to overlapor piece the successive detachments and form them into a continuous lap emerging from between the rolls 1:? and 18. From this point the continuous lap may be "handled the same as in the ordinary Heilman combe'r, that is, passed through a pan-conductor and condenser, through a draw-box andcoiler, into a silver-can. These parts are not necessary to describe,

as they form no part of the present invention.

WVhile-the detaching roll 15 and the piec ing roll 16, are 'out of contact with each other and also independent :in their action 'on-thestaple, they are nevertheless both sub- -ject to pressure from a single roll 19, which is =res'ted in-the crotch formed between them and subject to heavy pressure fronra pair of 'stirrups 20 applied to "its gudgeons or end portions. The pressure of this roll is exerted downwardly or :toward the cylinder and thus urges the detaching roll toward the segment in a rearwardly direction and the piecing roll toward its mate and driver 17 in a forward direction. Thereby the alternating or intermittent piecing motion of the roll 17 becomes imparted to the detaching roll through the .presser roll, insuring that the detaching roll will attain the surface speed of the segment by the time the "latter ,encounters itand thus also guarding against relative. slipping between these parts, whichis apt to take place at high speeds and is most undesirable. In order that the driving efiect just referred to shall be positive in .its action, it is preferred to flute the roll 16 as indicated,:and also the presser roll 19. This, however, is not essential, and the .roll 16, for instance, can be a leather covered roll if the pressure applied thereto .is sufficient. It is within :the invention, moreover, to depress the axis of the roll 16, when it is a leathercovered roll, so that it also will 'be encountered by the segment like the detaching roll. Thisarrangement is shown as a modified fornrin Fig. 6

and will nothrequire further description When the presser roll 19 is smoother leather-covered, which is also within the invention, the advantage is thereby gained that the detaching roll will be free from the 5 danger of indentation by the flutes and less care will then be required in removing the stirrup pressure when the machine is idle.

By any of the foregoing arrangements it will be observed that the detaching roll 15 may be of small diameter by which is meant considerably less than the usual {5 inch diameter roll used in combers designed to accommodate a 12 inch lap. The superposed It prevents the'bendthis distance, theless Waste, other conditions being favorable, and obviously the smalldiameter detaching roll enables the bite line on the segment to Occur farther back than With a detaching roll of larger diameter, say as large as necessary to resist in itself the tendency to distortion or fleXure. The detaching roll used in this machine when supplied with the presser roll as indicated may be g inch or less in diameter, and take a standard 12 inch lap. Its bite on the segment may thus be less than 3 inch from the top comb teeth, which thus gives it an opportunity to nip the cylinder combed fibers well toward their middle so as to draw through the top comb fibers of such shortness as would otherwise be thrown down as waste. I have found also that the same conditions make for less waste and more efficient combing when the longer stapled fiber is under treatment, the close nip being advantageous with all grades of cotton as a means of combing and hence saving the shorter fibers. o

It will be understood that the figures of the drawings are not strictly proportional to the actual machine but it will be evident from the relative arrangement shown that the distance from the feed rolls to the top comb may be equal to or less than one inch, that is to say, not materially longer than the shortest staple that would be sought to be combed, and vthat the distance from the comb teeth to the bite of the detaching roll may be approximately one-half of the length of such staple. Thus it will be seen that practically all of the fibers will either be held by the feed rolls or carried off by the detaching roll, very little being removed by either the top comb or the rotary comb, the functions of which are primarily to remove dirt and neps and give the fiber the desired luster.

-The supporting means for the several rolls above described are formed on the-pillow block 21 of the piecing roll shaft 17, which block carries a laterally and rearwardly extending arm 22, provided with a shelf or lip 23 at its rear terminal. ()n this shelf there is mounted first the bearing block 2 1' (Fig. 2) for the second or piecing roll 16, the said block being rested thereon against a set screw 25 by which the elevation of the roll 16 with relation to the deta'ching segment can be controlled. The gudgeon of the said roll is furnished with a journal sleeve 16, slabbed on one side, by which it rests on the top surface of the bearing block, the said top surface being inclined toward the lower piecing roll, as shown, so as to permit the roll 16 to bear upon the latter under the efiect of the pressure. 1 suitable collar on the end of the gudgeon sleeve 16 engages the inner edge of the bearing block to prevent longitudinal motion of the roll, for obvious reasons. The bearing block 26, shown in detail'in Fig. 5, supports the detaching roll 15 and is also rested upon the same shelf 23, against the set screw 27 and against the side of the block 24 with which it interlocks by means of itsribs 26 The latter keeps the blocks in accurate registry. A common tightening bolt 28, passing through both blocks and tapped into the arm 22, serves to secure the blocks in their adjusted positions. The detaching roll gudgeons are held rotatably in gudgeon sleeves 15 which latter are seated in the semi-circular seats 26 in the bearing block and also are provided with collars to prevent endwise shifting of the detaching roll when in action. The end of the block 26 is formed with an upstanding stop member or abutment wall 29, which keeps the presser roll from shifting longitudinally. When the said presser roll is in place, bearing or the two rolls 15 and 16, the stirrups 20 ar applied to its sleeves19 as indicated in the figures, and the other ends of the stirrups are hooked to the weighted levers 30 so as to be pulled downwardly thereby. The pressure thus exerted on the detaching roll tends to urge it toward the rear side of the comb cylinder, as above stated, and which direction is best suited to eliminate shock in the roll, inasmuch as the said roll can thereby yield, if need be, in the direction in which the segment is moving at the moment of contact. The pressure from the same stirrups. also acts on the rearward piecing roll so that both rolls 15 and 16 are thus pressed against the tufts passing beneath them, by a common pressure means.

The clearer roll 18 is carried in horse-tails 31 and the latter are mounted on the usual horse-tail bases 32, which are likewise carried on the pillow blocks 21 extending laterally and rearwardly therefrom, so as to embrace the stirrups, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.. A clearer cover, not shown, may be applied to the clearer roll as well as to the weighting roll, for the usual purpose, such cover being held in place by the slots shown in the horse-tails.

I claim:

1. In a cotton comber, lap feeding and nipping means, a comb cylinder, a detaching 7 driven 'by the said second roll.

a comb cylinder having a detach-ing segment, of a segment-engaging detaching roll, a second roll in front of this detaching roll and'out of contact therewith, a third roll in front of the second and in contact therewith and a presser roller applied jointly to said detaching and second rolls adapted to press the latter toward the segment and'the other toward the third, said second and third rolls bei-ng piecing rolls adapted to piece the detached tufts. i

t. In :a Heilman type com'ber, a comb cylinder, a detaching roll guided in end bearings :and a pair of p'ieci'ng'rolls, in combination with a presser roll applied jointly tosaid detach'ing roll and oneof the piecing rolls, and means for applying pressure to the ends of the presser roll.

5. In a Heilman type comber, 'a comb cylinder having -a detaching segment, a detaching roll, a pair :of piecing rolls in front of the detaching roll, and a presser roller applied jointly to said detaching roll and to one of the piecing rolls'and serving topress the one toward the segment and thewother toward the third piecing roll, in combination'withstirrups applied to theen'ds of the )l8SSI' 1Qll' LI1dIIlLnS for preventing longitudinal displacement thereof.

6. In a Irleilman type comber, the com: bination :of a comb cylinder having a detaching segment, of a segment-engaging detaching iroll, a second 1-011 in front of this detaching :roll and spaced therefrom and -from the segment, a third roll in front of the second and in contact therewith and a presser'rollenapplied jointly to said detaching and second rolls adapted to press the latter toward the segmen cylinder having a detaching-segment, a segment-engaged detaching roll, means independent of the segment for rotating the detaching roll comprising 'a main fluted piecing roll, .a second piecing roll also fluted and driven thereby and a superposed roll 8. in a Heilman type comber, the combination of detaching and piecing rolls out of contact with each other, a presser roll in contact with both and means for prevent:

ing endwise shifting of the presser roll.

9. In a Heilman type comber, a detaching roll, means to support :the same comprising 5 bearing blocks at "the ends of the roll having uastandin :)arts or surfaces a second roll v in front of.-said detaching roll, and a presser roll bearing on both said rollsand confined in places by said upstanding surfaces. 10. In a Heilman type comber, the combination offeeding and nipping means, a detaching roll adapted to operate close in front of said'nipping means, a second roll operating in front of this detaching roll,

and pressure means common to both said XZ. In :a il-leilman type com'ber, a comb rise-me rolls adapted to press the same against the tufts'pass'inglbeneath them. 7

r 11. In a Heilman' type cotton comber, the combination of-a comb cylinder having a ,detaching' segment, a pair of nipper jaws,'a pair of feed rolls in rear of such jaws, the upper roll of which-is of smaller diameter than the lower roll and held on the forward side of said lower roll, in combination with a detaching roll operating on the segment, a second roll in front of the detaching roll and means common to both rolls for apply ing nipping pressure thereto,

I 1-2. Ina Heilman type combenthe combination offeeding and nipping means, a detaching roll in front of the same, a second roll infront of this detaching roll, pressure applying *means acting jointly on'iboth rolls, and supporting means for the ends of such rolls whereby the detaching roll may yield under the pressure in a forward and upward direction. r v

13. In a Heilman type comber, nipper members, a comb cylinder having aidetaching segment, a segmentcngaged detaching roll operating close in front of the segment, asecond roll in front of such detaching roll, and a third roll in front of and engaging said second roll, in combinationwith yielding means common to both said detaching and second rolls adapted to press them both against thetufts, and inclined end-supporting means for said detaching roll permitting the same to move forwardly and upwardly under impact'with thesegment.

14. In a Heilman'typefcomber, the combination with a comb cylinder having a detaching segment, of a pair of feed rolls, the uppermost of which is of relatively small diameter 'held on the forward side of the lower roll whereby the commontangent of the said. rolls substantially coincides "with the path of the tuft duringdetachment, a pair of nipper jaws, the active jaw thereof being inclined andvsubstantially parallel with the plane of the axes of said feed rolls, an inclined ,top comb in front of such active jaw, -'a segmentengag'ed detaching roll rotating'under the incline of said top comb, supporting means for the ends of said roll 7 on which it may yield forwardly under impact by the segment, piecing rolls in front of thefdetaching roll, and a common mean'sfor applying nipping pressure to both the de taching rollsand said piecing rolls/ 15(In a cotton'comber of the kind described the combination of aicomb cylinder having a'detaching segment, means for feeding and holding the forward end'of the cotton lap in contact with said cylinder, a deadapted to receive :theftufts from the segment, and means fortransmitting the nio-,

tion of one of said rolls to said detaching roll whereby the latter is driven coincidently by one of said forwardly spaced rolls as well as by the segment.

16. In a cotton comber, a comb cylinder having a segment, feed rolls above the same having a common tangent extending downwardly toward the cylinder, lap-nipping means comprising a nipper-knife inclined in the same direction as the feed rolls, a top comb also inclined in the same direction and a detaching roll cooperating with the segment in front of the top comb, in combination with means for supporting such r011 comprising a slotted bearing block engaging 15 an end thereof, said slot being downwardly and rearwardly inclined, and open at its upper end, piecing mechanism independent of the detaching roll and including a weighted roll, and Weighting means common to this roll and the detaching roll.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE M. WHITIN. Witnesses:

OSCAR L. OWEN, CHESTER C. LAMB.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

